The global barley market is only about one-eighth the size of the corn market but to major exporters (France, Russia, Australia, Canada) and to major importers (Middle East, China), it is a very important crop. Like other commodities, barley prices have been rising. Production fell 6.8 percent this year and global ending stocks are off nearly 22 percent from two years ago. The area harvested to the crop has fallen for two years in a row. Barley will become more important as a cover crop as agriculture seeks to control its emissions, but it is also a crop that thrives in a cooler climate, an environmental condition that is declining. It has substitutes as an animal feed but becomes more precious when turned into beer. The decline in average...
Key Market Insights Macros: Inflation isn’t cooling — it’s moving higher again. March PCE inflation (Personal Consumption Expenditures index — the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation) rose 0.7 percent month-over-month, pushing the annual rate to 3.5 percent, the h...
An amendment to the U.S. House farm bill, aiming to remove the Save Our Bacon Act language in Section 12006 that would have stripped language to prohibit California’s Proposition 12, Massachusetts’ Question 3, and up to 500 state agricultural laws across the country, was blocked by...
WPI has officially launched Transportation Perspectives as a standalone weekly report separate from our Ag Perspectives articles and analysis. Current Ag Perspectives subscribers will have gratis access to the report through 16 April 2026. Please email us or subscr...
From WPI Consulting
Infrastructure investment due diligence
On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.